


Death of a Friend

by mocinno



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21576052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mocinno/pseuds/mocinno
Summary: To rid Fódlan of corruption, Byleth is willing to do anything, no matter the pain to herself.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 10





	Death of a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Chapter 14 of Crimson Flower.

Something is wrong.

Byleth watches as Edelgard marches toward Claude.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong. 

It’s strange.

Killing former students was a non-issue. It was expected, and Byleth swallowed the pain with ease. What is one life when weighed against millions in the future?

Anything, to save Fódlan.

But now, watching Edelgard move, following the very orders Byleth gave her, something is very, very wrong.

The slight wind of Deidru blows through her bones, and her body urges to be held, sheltered from the cold.

Byleth holds her hands out and the world stops.

 _No_ , she thinks, _nothing is wrong. This city is a few steps away from being ours. So why panic?_

Time flows once more. Edelgard gives Claude an appraising look.

He banters back.

The amicable smile fades away, and the battle begins. Claude is deft, clearly having honed his skills in the five years, likely with the Almyran pals the Imperial army defeated already. He darts around Edelgard, strangely elegant on his draconic beast, hovering just within range as he fires one Relic arrow after the next.

Edelgard moves as trained by Byleth, moving her shield with enough speed to block most of the arrows. They dent the shield until she finds her chance to retaliate. As he speeds towards her, Edelgard’s axe comes up, slicing his wyvern. He rears back, and she slams the flat side of Aymr against his back.

He screams.

It’s odd. Claude was never a screamer. His emotions were always calculated, timed.

He falls off his wyvern. It’s not his usual graceful leap or prideful backflip off but a clumsy, thoughtless fall, one of a man sapped of strength.

Propped up on his elbows, he pleads to Edelgard.

Pleads.

Byleth’s vision tunnels. All she can see is Claude, collapsed on the ground, begging for mercy.

_You’ve fallen so far._

She watches Edelgard like a hawk.

He laughs bitterly at her response. Weak words spill onto the ground.

Byleth’s face twists and she throws her hands out.

Time comes to a halt. Aymr is centimeters from his neck, and as Byleth rolls time back, Edelgard’s boots clinging backward, there’s a sinking feeling in her stomach. 

_Don’t let this be another Jeralt situation._

“Edelgard, stop!”

But she already has momentum then, Aymr swinging with her body and the scream is too late as the axe comes crashing down.

Byleth shuts her eyes as time slips away from her.

_Think. Think. I’ve come so far since Jeralt’s death. Surely there’s a way around this._

_Just think._

Click, click. The hands of time click away as they wind back, as Edelgard’s boots clink on the pavement once more, further, further.

Edelgard cuts down a falcon knight with Aymr. The axe glows with power, and she hurries away in Claude’s direction.

“Wait, Edelgard—!”

She’s already too absorbed in her conversation with Claude, the same conversation.

The same conversation. It’s hollow in Byleth’s ears.

Her hands shake as time flows backward. _Think. I’m running out._

The hands of time stop.

They’re **jammed** _._

In front of her, in the frozen space, Sothis floats.

She blinks. “You cannot pass.”

Time stays still, refusing to move.

“I am not a being of infinite power!” Sothis snaps suddenly, and Byleth can feel as time is ripped from her hands and speeds forward. “Honestly.”

“Sothis.” 

They’re back. Edelgard stands still in front of Claude, Aymr in one hand and a shield in the other.

Claude has an arrow between his fingers, mid-twirl, Failnaught glowing in his fist.

“Sothis!”

The girl says nothing. The world flows again, the violet tint of Time’s Pulse vanishes, and Byleth is alone.

The same exchange. The same dives of Claude’s wyvern, the same careful sweeps of Edelgard’s shield.

She can’t look. She can’t.

But she hears it, as bone crunches, and Aymr hits stone. But she smells it, as the scent of blood fills the air and coats her cloak. But she tastes it, as she bites her tongue, and the sick taste of iron fills her mouth. But she feels it, as her nails dig into her palms, and she knows blood peeks out from her skin.

But she knows it, as her senses rush at her, scream at her, claw at her.

_Claude von Riegan is dead._

_Claude von Riegan is dead._

_Claude von Riegan is dead._

_He’s gone._

Her legs give out, and she hits the ground. The concrete is hard on her knees, and she can tell it’s going to bruise, but all she can feel is her unmoving heart, the air suddenly frozen in her throat.

Somewhere, in a world far away, Dorothea shouts Byleth’s name as Bolting magic ricochets through the air.

From the southwest, she can sense a lance cavalier barreling towards her. 

The Sword of the Creator grinds against the steel of the lance. The battle would not stop for her sadness. The world would not stop turning.

After the battle, Edelgard walks to Byleth, offers a hand for the achievement of taking Deirdriu, receives nothing, and begins her post-battle assessment.

Byleth doesn’t hear her.

Her words fall on deaf ears.

It’s terribly, terribly cold. 

“... and no more blood will be shed. Perhaps that’s what he wanted from the start.” Edelgard tilts her head down, deep in thought, as Byleth wakes up their stupor.

“That sounds like Claude.” The chill feels like it’s seeped into her bones. 

She has no tears. There is no mourning, not for the enemy Alliance leader who refused to go in peace but instead died a dirty, loveless death.

Terrible. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly experimental and probably awkwardly paced. Thank you for reading anyway!


End file.
